Please note that entries for the 2011 National Credit Union Awards are now closed. 

We've introduced six new categories this year. Importantly, for two of the categories - Innovation and Photography - we'll be inviting both credit unions and the public to vote.

New this year, we have split the Fundraising category in two; one for those credit unions who do so much good fundraising for charities and good causes in their local communities, the other Fundraising category is for those credit unions who have made great strides in funding their own source for additional capital.

The categories for the 2011 National Credit Union Awards for Excellence are:

• Active partnerships;
• Community mobilisation;
• Credit union education;
• Credit union innovation - NEW - award sponsored by MasterCard;
  
• Fundraising - raising additional capital - NEW
• Fundraising - on behalf of a charity - NEW
• Marketing;
• Photography - NEW
• Single benefactor;
• Young leader of the year (17 - 35) - NEW
• Young saver of the year (under 16) - NEW

Category criteria

Any projects submitted should have taken place between 1 October 2010 and 30 November 2011. The criteria for each category tells you what the judges were looking for in the winner of the award.

In considering your application, the panel of judges are looking for detailed examples of what makes your project/initiative different and worthy of an award.

The panel of judges will pay special attention to whether you were able to extend your credit union’s reach/influence or activity and whether it is possible to transfer ‘good ideas’ to other credit unions.

The Bank will provide free publicity about the achievements of your credit union through its media network.

For the 2011 National Credit Union Awards, applications should be submitted using the following criteria:

For each entry, please describe:

• Your project/idea
• Why it is unique
• What were your aims and objectives?
• Explain how you achieved them
• What lessons you learnt which enhanced your credit union and the credit union community
• How the credit union raised its own funding to finance the project
• How you have spread knowledge/awareness/the reach of your credit union in your local community.

In addition, please pay special attention to the questions specific to the award category that you are entering:

Active partnerships

• How and why did you choose your partner(s) or did your partners choose you?
• What additional benefits arose from working with a partner on this project?
• What benefits were gained by your credit union by working with that/those partner(s)?
• What benefits arose for the community served by your credit union?

Community mobilisation

• What motivated you to mobilise this area of your community?
• What benefits were gained for the community?
• What were the measured outcomes for your credit union and its wider community?
• How could other credit unions learn from what you did?

Credit union education

• Why did you choose to target that particular group?
• Is this part of an on-going project?  If so, please include the timescale.
• If you partnered with another organisation please describe why you chose them and what additional benefit this partnership brought to the project.
• What were the measured outcomes for your credit union and its wider community?

Credit union innovation - award sponsored by MasterCard

• Why you would describe your project/idea as innovative.
• What were the aims and objectives of your project/idea?
• What impact and results did your project/idea have?
• Can what you have achieved be shared to benefit other credit unions?

Fundraising on behalf of a charity

• Which specific charity/project/initiative did you raise money for?
• What initiatives did you take i.e. car boot sale, sponsored walk etc.?
• How much did you raise and how many people from your credit union were involved?
• What targets did you set and have you achieved them?
• Is your relationship with the charity/project/initiative ongoing?

Fundraising to raise additional capital

• Was the fundraising for a specific project/initiative or to help with the general running costs of your credit union?
• What initiatives did you take i.e. car boot sale, sponsored walk etc.?
• How much did you raise and how many people from your credit union were involved?
• What targets did you set and have you achieved them?
• Are your fundraising efforts ongoing?

Marketing

• What approaches did you use?
• What targets did you set and have you achieved them?
• What were the economic outcomes i.e. attracting new members and/or social outcomes i.e. benefits to the wider community?
• How have you increased the awareness of the Credit Union brand within your community?
• How has what you've done/learned, changed your approach?

Photography

• What does the photography say about the work of your credit union or the wider credit union movement?
• How have you used the photography to spread knowledge/awareness/the reach of your credit union in your local community?

Single benefactor

• What was significant about the involvement of that individual?
• How did they become involved with the credit union?
• What did they contribute to the credit union, i.e. finance/skills/volunteering?
• Is their involvement ongoing?
• Can what your nominee has achieved be shared to benefit other credit unions?

Young leader of the year (17 - 35)

• How did your nominee become involved with the credit union?
• What did they contribute to the credit union, i.e. finance/skills/volunteering?
• How has your nominee illustrated leadership, engagement and transferable skills?
• Can what your nominee has achieved be shared to benefit other credit unions?

Young saver of the year (17 - 35)

We're asking entrants in this category to produce an essay (750 words max.) to outline their involvement and engagement in the movement. This should include why/how the nominee became involved, what they have learnt about money management and the role of credit unions within communities and whether they have spread the word to other people of their own age.